Engine starting apparatus



Nov. l2, 1935. R. P. LANSING ENGINE STARTING APPARATUS Filed March 13, 1951 'Patented Nov. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEv 2,020,790 ENGINE srAnTmG mana'rus Application March 13, 1931, Serial No. 522,420

' 8 Claims. (Cl. 1 23--179) This invention relates to engine starting apparatixs, and more particularly to a starter of the `inertia type.,

-An object of the invention is to provide an' l engine starter of the type embodying an engineengaging member which is longitudinally movable into driving engagement with a member o! the engine to be started, and which is drivably connected to a small highspeed flywheel through reduction means which convert the high speed of said flywheel into a high torque applicable to rotate the engine member.

Another object of the invention. is to provide v ber movable yinto engagement with a cranking.

member, an inertia member ,which is disconnected from the driven member during accelera' tion of, and storage of energy in, the inertia member. Anothen object is to` provide an inertia starter embodying a novel combination of mechanisms for establishinga driving connection between vthe driven member and the flywheel when the lat-- ter has been brought up to a desired speed.

Another object of the invention is to provide,

in an inertia, starter of the type just described, novel means for moving the driven member into engagement with the engine member at a lower speed of rotation than that imparted thereto from the flywheell after the cmpletion of such engaging movement. l

Another object of the invention is to provide an engine starter of the inertia type embodying novel meansA for transmitting a driving torque in one direction only, and which will prevent return torque transmission from the engine on starting' under its own power.

A further object is to provide a starter of novel construction in which driving ,engagement is effected by a radialmovement of normally ineffective driving surfaces into frictional driving relation to a member which is thereby caused to move axially into engagement with a member of the engine to be started.

` o Another object is to provide in a manually operated engine starter of the inertia type, novel multi-stage speed varying mechanism interposed A between the manually operated member and the inertia member and adapted to drive the inertia portion of said mechanism being' thereafter operable to transmit the energy thus stored in the inertia element to the engine-engaging member at a considerably reduced speed. I

A further object of the invention is to provide 5'* a combination of radially movable and angularly movable friction clutch mechanisms for drivably connecting the inertia member with the engineengaging member.

Another object of the invention is to provide 10 a combination of friction clutchmechanisms of the foregoing character` in which one of the clutches is self-energizing and the other is adapted to slip `or yield when a predetermined torque capacity is reached. 4, 15

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively small and compact inertia starter applicable to installations such as those commonly encountered in the motor 'vehicle art, where the space available .for installation of an 20 engine-engaging member is limited. These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from inspection of the following spec'ication when read with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein isi-illustrated the 25 l pended claims for this purpose.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a device embodying the invention; and y the connecting member between the rst section/45 5 and the central section l in which the aforesaid inertia member is rotatably supported by meanstobedescribed.

l Preferably, the first section l of thecasing is so constructed and disposed with respect to the second section B vas to permit the manual energization to be conducted at any desired angle with respect to the center line of the casing. As

' shown, Vsuch construction comprises the provision of a circular flange Il formed on thesecfirst assembly comprising a member 35 having a ,retaining means for the at 32 and 33;hk

1 ofY stationary'` internally tion 5 and adapted to' register with a circular recessed portion II inthe inner cylindrical surface of the section 5 whereby the-flange Ill may be made to register with the circular seat I.I in any angular position, suitable means such as1 a bolt I2 being provided for securing sections 5 and 5 in the desired angular relation. I

' II'he preferred form of manual energizing means comprises .the provision of a sleeve member Ill centrally disposed with respect to a`circular boss I5 protruding'from section 5 at right angles to the center line-of the casing proper, the said sleeve I4 being provided'with a suitable pin I5 at its outer end for registry with a suitable handcrank or other manual operating means, the inner portion of the sleeve I4 being T adapted -t0 receive the end portion of shaft I1 to which it is drivably secured by suitable means suchasthepinl. f

The shaft I1, which is `rotatably supported in the boss I5 by suitable bearings I8 and 20, has drivably connected to its inner end abevel gear 2| for a purpose presently to be described, the driving connection therebetween preferably taking the form of a threaded connection between the end of the shaft and a nut 22 correspondingly threaded to engage therewith. If desired, the connection'may be further secured by flattening a portion of the cylindrical surfaces of the shaft I1 and thehub of bevel gear 2| in the manner indicated.

The novel means for drivably connecting the manually operable gear 2| with the inertia member to cause rotation thereof at a considerably multiplied speed for Storagebf the energy '1'8- quired to crank the engine, preferably takes the form of a hollow shaft 25 provided at one end thereof with a bushing 25 permitting relative rotation between the said shaft and a bevel pinion 21 adapted to mesh with the bevel gear 2|', the pinion having an elongated hub 25, the outer end of which is threaded to receive a correspondingly threaded nut 29 serving to maintain the pinion in proper'relation to the .gear 2| and further serving to maintain in place upon the said hub'28 a co-operating element 'of the planetary system of gears presently to be described. A suitable bearing 30 may be provided for rotatably supporting the -shaft and pinion in the transversely disposed wall 3| bridging thecylindrical wall of sectionA 5 ofthe casing, suitable bearing beingindicated `The planetary gearing 'now' to be described has for its function the estblishmentpf a drivingconnection between the pinion 21 and the inertia member. Inthe preferred embodiment as illustrated, the planetary system is composed'of two stages of speed'multiplying mechanism each of which embodies a planetary gear assembly, the

central opening tted withsplincs 35 adapted to co-operate with similar splines on'the hub of pinion 21 to be rotated therewith and in turn rotate a plurality of planeiggears Y l in a circular path around the inner periphery toothed gear 33 secured l tothe casing by-suitable means 33, said planetary gears being also adapted to mesh with aV sun gear 43 preferably formed by cutting suitable teeth 0n an enlarged portion of the shaft 25 from which point the said shaft continues through the section 1.0i the' casing and into section 3 thereof, being rotatably supported in the transversely disposed wall 4| of section 1 by.v suitable bearing hub and shaft. the spider series of pins 48 rotatably supporting planetary l0 gears 49 which, like the planetary gears 31, travel As shown, the sleeve 55 through which Y ing member of the a plurality of elements having convex frictional. surfaces* adapted the plate 52 andthrough suitable 31 adapted to travel transversely wall 43 oil section l' by vsimilar bearing means 44. i

,Intermediate the'bemngs u mi uis a third bearing 45 rotatably supporting member 45 having' a. hub 41 secured to the shaft 25 for rotation therewith by virtue of the provision of cooperating plane surfaced section in the body 45 carrying a in a circular path provided by teeth formed on Vthe annulus55 secured to the vcylindrical boss 5I 0f the wall 43 by' suitable meansas indicatedat 52. The gears 49 are adapted to mesh with the 15 sun gear 54 preferably formed by cutting` teeth in the circumferential surface' of the sleeve 55. 55 is provided with a flange suitable means 51 pass to form a rigid connection between the said flange 20 and the inertia member or nywheel 5s. i* From the foregoing it is apparent that the flywheel 58 may be energized to high speed through manual rotation of the sleeve I4 and the interv mediate speed multiplying mechanism just de- 25 scribed.

-There remains to 4be described the novel means for transferringlthe energy, thus stored in the flywheel 53 to a rotatable member of the engine. Stated broadly, such' means oomprises the provision of a cylindrical member or 30 drum drivably associated with the engine-engagstarter, in combination with to be moved radially into engagement with said cylindrical drum by operation of the manually controlled means to be described.

In the embodiment shown. such a cylindrical drum is indicated by reference character 59, and such radially movable elements are indicated at 40 5l and 5I (Figs. 1 and 2) wherein they are shown as rotatable with an apertured plate 52 to which said elements are pivotally secured by means of suitable posts or studs 63. which pass through apertures in 45 cross-arms 54 and 55 respectively, to threadedly engage castellated nuts 65, the cross-arms 54 and -55 being rigidly secured by suitable fastening means 51 to the frictional elements 5I and 55 respectively. On the convex arcuate rims of 50 elements 5I! and 6I are-provided correspondingly shaped bands 13 of suitable friction material the curvature of these bands being preferably such as to render the elements 60 and'il self-energizing, that is, toY cause them to wrap themselves 55 firmly along the concave surface of drum 55 upon radial movement from their normal 'positions whichareshowninFig. '1. A

VMeans are provided for maintaining the members 55 and 5I in non-engaging position with re- G0 spect to the drum 59 notwithstanding the tendency of such elements to move outward radially in response' to fthe centrifugal force resulting from rotation of these elements duringthecrank- As shown, such means comprises 65 resilient means 11 and 13 so pusivtionedas oppose suchfeentrifugal action, the

spring 11 being fastened at one end to the element 53 and at its other end to the lower end of ahook fastenedtotheelement 5I 70 vatoneend andattheotherendto asimilarhook 13, while the latter is 15,V the points of attachment so located with respect to the pivots 33 lon-,which the hooks and friction'ele'menis are suspended, and with respect to the axis of rotation of these "elements, 15

a cage or spider ,s

that they exert a resilient force yin opposition to arcuate members rigidly Vsecured as by rivets 8|, to the outer ends of cross-arms 04 and .lirespectively. These counterwelghts are preferably positioned diametrically opposite the arcuate driving elements 60 and 6| to which they are respectively attached, so as to have maximum co terbalancing effect, the-elements 60 and 8| being preferably unsymmetrically located with respect to the cross-arms 64 and 65, (as shown in Fig. 2|). This unsymmetrical mounting of the friction elements and counterweights- 80 also has the advantage of permitting the arrangement of the cross-arms 6I and 65 in parallelism'as indicated in Fig. 2. It will also be noted that the counter-balancing weights are attached 4to the` cross-arms 64 and 65 in such a manner as to permit superimposing the Afriction elements 60 and 8| thereupon as indicated bestin Fig. 1.

Novel means 'are provided to move elements 00 and 6I outwardly in a radial direction into frictional driving contact with the surface of drum 59. For this purpose the cross-arms 94 and 05 are preferably provided with sloping shoulders, as indicated at 02, spaced apart sufficiently to permit their being engaged. by the centrally and horizontally disposed rod 93, the inner en d of which (84) is of conical shape, the degree of taper being such as to correspond to the angle of slope of j members 64 and 65, whereby upon inward move- 4o ment of rod 83 a wedging action is produced which moves the shoulders 92 of the cross-arms 94 and 65 away from each other, thereby moving the friction elements 60 and 9| into engagement with the drum 59.`

Axial movement is imparted to rod Bl'by operation of novel meshing means comprising a collar 84 rotatably supported on rod I3 by bearings .85.-

and normally held in..the position indicateduin Fig. 1 bythe provision of a spring 88, the oppom siteend ofthe spring being inlengagement with the end of shaft 25. A suitable shifter yoke 81 is engageable with the collar M'to move the latter to the right against'the force of spring 80. in

response to manual actuation of a'lever 98 which engages the shaft 09 to which the shifter yoke`81 is secured. l The novel means for drivably nnecting the drum 59.*with the engine-engaging member preferably comprises the provisionuof a pair'of con- 0\ nectingshafts 90 and 9|, the former having a Bange y 92 riveted or otherwise suitablv secured to the drum 59, as indicated at 03', and adapted to be rotatably supported'ln'a recess 9 '4 formed in the v casing section 9. vThe 'shaft 9| is rotatably supported in a hub 95 formed inthe dividing wall 98 between casing sections 94 and 9, and isprovided with a pinion 91 meshing` with'a similar-'pinion 98 keyed to the shaft 90. as indicated at 99. A As shown, the shaft 9| extends lthrough the 'm` casing 9 to be rotatably supported at its outerend inabearing |00 inwhich the casing 9 terminates, a collar |0| being' provided near Athe-end of the shaft to serve as an abutment and seat for a spring 402, the opposite Vend'of which presses 'upon a collar |03 freely mounted 'on a screw shaft I, 'I'his screw-shaft |94, which is mounted freely on the shaft Il,- and is in turn surrounded by a correspondingly internally threaded pinion |05. and a stop nut |08. threaded thereto, is provided at its outer end with an unthreaded porl tion |90 of greater diameter, adapted to be yieldingly driven in response to rotation of the shaft i 9| by the friction clutch mechanism now to be described, the inner end terminating in the collar Ill, preferablythreaded thereto.

The means vfor obtaining a yielding frictional 'driving connection between the intermediate shaft '0| and the engine-engaging member |00 preferably comprises the provision voia pair of.' coaxially disposed sleeve members H0 and lll, 1s the .former being provided n its external surface witha series of splines adapted to engage alternate annular discs ofthe assembly shown at |2, the outer sleeve being similarly proiided on its internal surface with splines for vengaging 'the 20 associated annular discs. A plurality of keys |r|3 constitute a positive ldriving connection between the shaft 9| andthe linner sleeve Al l0, and a set screw I M is provided to hold the sleeve H0 in proper longitudinal relation to the other parts. A 2l similar set screw l I5 is provided to position a stopl IIB located between the Unthreaded portion of the screw shaft |04 and the sleeve |I|` to constitute an abutment for the pinion |05. A spring ||8 is preferably interposed between the end of l sleeve shaft |0I|and a shoulder `I| 9 formed on the' internal surface of l. sleeve ||0. A `suitable driving connection ay be provided between the forward end of the o ter sleeve I and the sleeve |96, but these are preferably integral parts of a 3l 1, the degree of pressure and hencethe torque transmitting capacity of the friction clutch being-45 adjustable by the shifting of collar |23 on shaft H0, the collar being set in adjusted position by suitable means such as the members |25 andy |26.

Having thus identified the parts entering into the embodiment illustrated, the operation there- 50 of will now be described. y f

When it is desired to start the engine, the hand 1 crank or othenmanual operating member (not shown) is caused to register with the member Il to rotate the same and thereby develop the neces- 5l sary starting torque in the ilywheel 58 through the two-stage planetary gearing above described. When the flywheel has by this means been accelerated to a speed sunlcient to store therein the desired amount of energy to crank the engine, the l operator may actuate lever 88 to produce an axial movement of the rod I2 to the right as shown in Fig. 1, thereby causing a radial movement of the members and 0| intov engagement with the inner surface of I9 which is thus brought about is imparted tothe 'threaded sleeve |04 through lthe intermediate driving connections including the shaft and 9| and the friction clutch members ||0-and 'eThe resultant rotation .of the sleeve |04 rst pro- 7# 59. The rotation of drum .t

engine 'crankshaft by virtue of its meshed connection with the member |30. 4 1

The relatively slow rotary movement above describedoccurs only in the event that the pinion |05`strikes'the side of the gear |30 instead of meshing therewith, and is thereby temporarily f prevented from moving further to the right.l In

such event the continued rotation of the screw shaft |04 will cause the pinion |05 to rotate therewith sumciently to`move from 'its abutting position into registry with the ywheel teeth, the pinion thereupon being forcedv longitudinally into engagement by the action of the spring I i8 which has been compressed by the reaction produced through the screw shaft I0 during the slight 4rothan that of the screwshaft, as the pinion is retarded by its inertia, that is, its tendencyto thread itself along the screwshaft` as long as such alonitudinal movement is possible. This tendency is -due not only to the weight of the pinion proper,

but tothe addedweight of thanut |00. v' Ihe in rtia of the gear |30, of course, acts to prevent rotary movement. of the pinion during the last portion'of the meshing movement. When further longitudinal movement of the pinion is prevented by reason of a complete compression -of spring |02,

the entire energy transmittedfrom the screwshaft to the pinion is ap lied to the task of cranking the engine by rotating the engine member |30, the clutclr H2 making it possible for this cranking action to be effected smoothly and'without excessive shock to the other parts of the starter.

When the engine starts under its own power, the .construction of the drive is such that the excess speed of rotation of the pinion |05, while stillin mesh with the flywheel, will cause the pinionto.be thrown back due to the sudden increase j velocity. In such backward travel the pinion /will be stopped by contact with the stop H6, anil-4^ y f thereafter will be held in the retracted position shown in thedrawing by the force 'of (spring |02 pressing against the collar I03.

' vAs soon as theenergy of the flywheel 50 is s'uiliciently spent, the springs 11 and 18 will act to return the friction elements 60 and 6| to their i normal position as shown in Fig. 1, 'the springy 86 having previously acted (upon release by the operator of the lever 88) to return the rod 03 to normal position.

.a driven member movable into engagement with shaft ofan engine to be'started; a driving memoperation, is inexpensive to manufacture, and

i There is thus disclosed a no vel engine mechanism of theine'rtia type which, due to its relatively small size and com tness and manual operate; and by reason of the eccentric relation betwenthe flywheel and the axis of rotation "of the engine-engagingpinion, together with the Anovel driving mechanism connecting said parts,

is freadily applicable to installations where "the size of the casing Vsurrounding the engine-engaging memberis limited. f

What is claimed is:

lf'In starting apparatus of theclass described,

amember drivably connected ber therefor, torqie limitingr clutch means vdrivably connecting said driving driven members, an inertia member for rotating said drivingmember, a self-energizing friction clutchdrivably connected to -s'aid inertia'men'iberv and normally out of engagement jwitli said driving member,

l'means 'for rotating said.v inertia m mber, and

through operation of said rotating means. Y

2. In combination, a fhrwheel. means for rotatingsaid flywheel, a drivenmember adapted to engage and crank an engine member drivably connected with the crankshaft of an engine to be started, means including a normally disengaged 10 embodying a handcrank rotatable to store energy in a vflywheel for s uent trn .to a member of .the engine to be started, the combination with said handcrank and flywheel of a multistage planetary gear train drivably connecting said handcrank and flywheel, and means for 25 drivably connecting said flywheel to lsaid engine member, said last named means including a self` energizing clutch mechanism rotatable with one 4stage of said gear train and a yielding clutch mechanism interposed between said gear train and engine member. l 4. In-an engine starting mechanismof the type employing an inertia member in which energy is stored for subsequent rotation'of a'member of the engine to be started, the combination with said engine member and inertia member of a drum mounted for rotation about an axis in alignment with`the axis of rotation of said inertia member, a yielding'clutch interposed Vbe-` tween said engine member and drum, and a' sec- 40 ond clutch and gear train for drivably connecting said drum and said inertia` member.

5. A driving mechanism comprising a driving member, a driven member-,a drum mounted for 1 rotation about an axis in .alignmentwitnthead axis of rotation of said driving member, a yield-V ing clutch inte'i'po between said drun and drivenI member, a gear train interposed between saidv yielding cl' tchand drum, anda second.

vclutchandgearr train for drivably connecting Asaid driving member and drum.

6. `A driving mechanism comprising a. driving member, a driven member, a drum mounted for rotationabout an axis in alignment with .the 'axis of rotation of said driving member, a yield- 55 ing clutch interposed, between said drum and driven member, a gearjtrain interposed between,- said yielding clutch and-drums second clutch and gear train for driyably connectingsaid driving member and drum, and means for actuatingw said driving member through the intermediary of a portion 4of saidlastgnamed gear train.'

'I'. A driving mechanism lcomprising driving member, a driven member, means for vdrivably connecting said members comprising a multial stage gear train, ascii-energizing clutch rotatable with one stageof said geartrainuand a yielding clutch interposed between saidgeen train and driven member, 1 t 8. In an engine-starting mechanism'of the7 type employing va. heel in which energy is stored for' subsequent on' tola member 'of the engine to be started, the combination with lsaidiiywheel and engine member of means for energizinssaid flywheel, van ensasinsi member of conventional form, means including a part of said energizing means for drivably eonnecting said ilywheel and engine engaging member, and means operable in response to the estabsaid engine member, including means for causing such engaging movement beioresaid engine engaging member acquires a speed equal to that imparted thereto from said iiywheel after the completion of such engaging movement.

' lRAYMOND P. LANSING. 

